Hello CSA members,
Week five is on the way and hopefully some rain with it to go with these above average temps that have been roasting us in the fields in Southeastern Wisconsin. None the less for the effort we got all our sweet peppers planted and quite a few spicy ones also. This year there will be 8 types of sweet peppers being grown and about 8 of hot peppers also including some heatless habanero’s, poblano, jalapeño, and shisito. The heat drove our strawberry crop to come in fast this year and they have done really well this year and will be reaching the end of their peak and will slow down a lot later this week but we totally got you on another week of berries in CSA shares! We will have to maintain the health of these plants the rest of the year pruning and feeding them to prepare for another good fruiting next season. We pruned all our tomato plants for the third time this week and are preparing for the fruit to come very soon I think! I’m guessing about 2-3 weeks until there is enough for shares. This week we harvested kohlrabi, green onions, lettuce and made room to plant peppers by plowing in the early greens field and putting in raised beds for the peppers. They should all be planted by the end of the week. Lots of other new crops are coming in now also and the shares will switch over to these early summer crops this week like garlic scapes, beets, peas, strawberries and more! The crop list follows.
Strawberries : The last of these summer fruits this week to enjoy in deserts, smoothies/drinks, popsicles, or even make a jar of fridge or freezer jam with them.
Green onion/ Scallions: These mild green onions can be used in their entirety any way you like to flavor and garnish your meals.
Garlic Scapes: These curly flowering shoots of the hardneck garlic plants are great minced up and used like regular garlic or i wrap them in foil with some oil and put them on the grill for a nice garlicky asparagus like side.
Lettuce heads: Romaine, red leaf, or butter crunch lettuce will be in the share this week. larger shares will receive larger heads but the heat really pushed all the spring lettuce to finish fast so we pulled it all in and shares will receive at least one of three types. large shares will likely get two heads.
Fennel: This is a early summer delicacy I always look forward to. The bulb is the best part and is crisp and sweet with an anise flavor. the stalk and frond can also be eaten and I like to use the whole plant however possible. Think about the fronds as an herb like dill and the stalks can be chopped up and cooked with other veggies. The bulb is great in coleslaw with cabbage or kohlrabi also or can be roasted with beets, and other veggies.
Sugar Snap Peas: These sweet pods are picked at peak for best flavor. If we run low on sugar snap we will be substituting some striking purple snow peas. These peas are good raw but really shine cooked and actually hold their beautiful deep purple color when cooked.
Kohlrabi: Kohlrabi is a tender and crisp cabbage apple. Thats how i like to describe it… its good raw or cooked and is a member of the brassica family. raw the texture is crisp and the flavor is sweet but cooked it becomes more mild and softer. I’ve used it shredded for slaw, cubed for sautéing, and sliced raw for snacking. We grow three varieties of kohlrabi with different colors like purple, white, and green. I think they all taste pretty similar and CSA members will get a a random choice of variety on these this week.
Chioggia beets: These candy striped beets are sweet and don’t bleed like red beets, the tops are tender and can be cooked like swiss chard or spinach and the flavor is enhanced when cooked but the beet roots contain the most sugars. Lots of other vitamins for your body in the beets and they are considered a superfood.
Curly Kale: This frilly kale is tender and rich, great for salads or sautéed. One of our favorites at home is kale chips but the kale also goes well with rice or beans in many dishes.
Thats it for this week everyone. Thank you for being CSA members and I hope you enjoy the veggies! -Kyle
